Шведська
1 Björn Engdahl’s Swedish Course The Swedish language has got two kinds of phonetical accents - the acute and the grave accents. The acute accent is the same as in many other languages. The tone is falling as in the English word speaker. This accent is employed in words of one syllable and in a few words of two or more syllables. The grave accent is the one characteristic for the Swedish language, and it occurs in most words of more than one syllable. Here, the tone is falling too, on the first syllable, but the second syllable starts on a higher pitch than does the first, and a strong stress occurs. Most Swedish polysyllabic words have the main stress on the first syllable and the grave accent on one of the following syllables. I will mark polysyllabic words employing the acute accent with an apostrophe (') behind the stressed syllable. ('segel = sail, the noun) Words using the grave accent are marked with a star (*) on the main stress syllable, and if needed, an apostrophe behind the syllable with the higher pitch The following curve illustrates the pitch of the grave accent with the Swedish word *tala = to speak. Here are some a couple of endings, all of which use the acute accent, stressed on the last syllable. It's not important that you memorize these endings at the beginning. Just learn to recognize them as you come across them. -ang, -ant, -at, -ent, -eri, -ess, -ion, -ism, -ist, -log, -nom, -tris, -ur, -ör, -ös Голосні: a a: a довге а - ta = брати коротке а - katt = кіт o o: o довге у - ko = корова коротке у - hon = вона u u: u довге ьо (ьу) - hus = хата, дім, будинок коротке ьо (ьу) - brunn = колодязь å å: å довге о - båt = човен, лодка коротке о - sång = пісня e e: e довге е - se = бачити коротке е - fett = товстий i i: i довге і - fil = файл, ряд коротке и - in = в y y: y довге ьу (ю) - sy = шити коротке ьу (ю) - sytt = сшитий ä ä: ä відкритий звук е - där = там, träd = дерево короткий відкритий звук е - stjärt = дно, lätt = легкий ö ö: ö довгий звук ьо - för = для, söt = милий короткий звук ьо - dörr = двері, röst = голос Приголосні (вимова яких відмінна від відповідних англійських) d d як в англійській, але язик проти верхньої частини твоїх зубів. g g j російське г, коли передує a,o,u,å або ненаголошеному e звук й перед e,i,y,ä,ö і після l та r j j звук й k k k звук к перед a,o,u і å звук чь, хь, кь l l звук л q k звук к r r округлене r t t звук т w v звук в x ks завжди звук кс z, s s звук с Деякі буквосполучення: ш ch, sk (перед e,i,y,ä,ö), sj, sch si і ti (before -on), skj, stj, -ge і rs звук ш або шь. j gj, lj, hj звук й k tj, ch (sometimes) дивись k вище g ng носовий звук н, близький до нг, як в англійській gn gn звук гн gk nk звук гк k ck звук к n rn майже як н, але язик у роті трохи назад t rt as t but with the tongue slightly further back in the mouth That's it, quite a lot to remember, wasn't it? But don't learn everything at once. Go back when you have finished a few lessons. Lesson 1 Vocabulary Hej hej Hi Hej då då: Good bye God morgon *mårån Good morning Tack tak Thank you/Please Tack så mycket så: *myket Thank you very much Varsågod vaså:'go:d You're welcome / Here you are Ja ja: Yes Nej nej No Ursäkta u:'säkta Excuse me / Pardon Förlåt fö:r'lå:t I'm sorry Bra bra: Good / Well Jag ja:g I Du du: You (sing.) Han han He Hon hon She Den den It (common gender) Det de:t It (neuter) Vi vi: We Ni** ni: You (plur.), formal you sing. and plur. De de: / most common dåm They **Nowadays, ni isn't used very much as formal sing. We usually address everybody with du. There is a Swedish pronoun man which is used in common aspects such as Man kan inte göra allt = One can't do everything. Numbers 0-10 noll nål 0 ett et 1 två två: 2 tre tre: 3 fyra *fy:ra 4 fem fem 5 sex seks 6 sju su: 7 åtta *åta 8 nio *ni:o 9 tio *ti:o 10 Nouns 1 The Swedish nouns are divided into two genders, neuters (n) and common genders ®. In most cases, you can't tell whether a noun is a neuter or a common gender. You'll simply have to memorize the gender for each noun you learn. However, there are a few rules, with help of which you'll easier remember it. One of them tells that all nouns having to do with people or professions are common gender. Neuters use the indefinite article ett and common genders use en. The pronoun det (it) is similarly used for neuters and den (it too) is used for common genders. Some nouns ett barn ba:rn child en flicka *flika girl en pojke *pojke boy ett fönster 'fönster window ett bord bo:d table en man man man en kvinna *kvina woman en bok bo:k book en telefon tele'få:n telephone en stol sto:l chair en dörr dör door ett vykort *vy:kot postcard en penna *pena pen(cil) ett rum rum room ett badrum *ba:drum bathroom ett hotell ho'tel hotel ett frimärke *fri:märke stamp That's it, what could you do now? You could enter a shop saying God morgon, en penna tack! Hej då Not much but you would be perfectly understood! If you want to produce more advanced sentences, you have to learn some verbs. Verbs 1(The infinitive and the present tense) Verbs are the key to every language. Just by mentioning äta you will be understood. (You wouldn't be looked upon as a very intelligent person though.) In Swedish, a verb employs the same form in all persons, whereas English for example uses different forms for different persons. Thus, the verb vara conjugates as follows in the present tense: Jag är (compared to English> I am Du är You are Han är He is Hon är She is Den är It is Det är It is Vi är We are Ni är You are De är They are As you can see, this is very easy. Therefore you only have to learn one form for every verb in each tense. Most Swedish verbs are regular, but the most frequently used are irregular. Regular verbs, infinitive and present tense All polysyllabic Swedish verbs end with an a in the infinitive. (Others, those of one syllable end with any vowel.) There are two conjugations of regular verbs - group 1 adding an r to the stem in the present tense and group two adding er to the stem. The Swedish word corresponding to the English to in to go for example is att. Example: Group 1: Verb: Tala (to speak) Group 2: Verb: Köpa (to buy) Stem: Tala- Stem: Köp- Present tense: Talar Present tense: Köper Group 1: Verb: Älska (to love) Group 2: Verb: Hjälpa (to help) Stem: Älska- Stem: Hjälp- Present tense: Älskar Present tense: Hjälper And as I said before, the verbs conjugate in the same way in all persons. Almost all irregular verbs form their present tense as does groupe 2. Example: skriva (to write) skriv- + er = skriver han skriver = He writes The verb vara (to be) and ha (to have) are irregular and have the forms är and har in the present tense. (Jag är = I am, Jag har = I have) Monosyllabic verbs are almost always irregular and form the present tense by adding an r. Example: se (to see) se + r = ser hon ser = she sees Pronunciation Now we're back to that pronunciation again! Two-syllabic verbs all have the grave accent in the infinitive. Verbs with three or more syllables often have the accute accent on the second last syllable. In the present tense, group 1 verbs with two syllables all have the grave accent and all others of two syllabels have the accute accent on the first syllable. Almost all verbs of more than two syllables stress the second-last syllable with an accute accent. Example: Tala (1) = *ta:la, Talar = *ta:lar Köpa (2) = *kö:pa, Köper = 'kö:per Skriva (i) = *skri:va, Skriver = 'skri:ver Diskutera (1) = disku:'te:ra, Diskuterar = disku:'te:rar (diskutera = discuss) Some verbs: Tala (1) *ta:la to speak Prata (1) *pra:ta to talk Studera (1) stu:'de:ra to study Älska (1) *älska to love Köpa (2) *kö:pa to buy Hjälpa (2) *hjälpa to help Skriva (i) *skri:va to write Äta (i) ä:ta to eat Vara (i) *va:ra Present tense = är ä:r to be Heta (2) *he:ta like "to have the name" Ringa (2) *riga to call Se (i) se: to see Now that you know some verbs and nouns, you could construct more advanced sentences such as Jag heter Björn Engdahl = My name is Björn Engdahl Han köper en boll = He buys a ball Exercise - Translate the following sentences into Swedish A boy writes a postcard They help a woman You (sing.) love a man She studies Swedish (=svenska) We buy a stamp You (plur.) see it. (ref. to the table) Lesson 2 Vocabulary och ok and inte *inte not Sverige 'sverje Sweden här hä:r here där dä:r there nu nu: now idag i'da:g today lite *li:te a little bara *ba:ra only / just mycket *myke(t) a lot svenska *svenska Swedish England 'egland England engelska 'egelska English Hur står det till? stå:r de til How do you do? pengar 'pegar money eller 'eler or Nouns 2 In English, German and French e.g., the definite form of a noun is constructed by a definite article. The definit form of the noun table for example, is obtained by adding the - the table, German - Der Tisch, French - La table etc. In Swedish, the definite form is obtained by attaching a suffix (ending) to the noun. The suffixes are -(e)n for common genders and -(e)t for neuters. The e is often dropped when the noun ends in a vowel. Example: The noun sg. indefinite sg. definite book en bok boken girl en flicka flickan boy en pojke pojken rose en ros rosen house ett hus huset table bord bordet eye öga ögat As you can see, you drop the e if the noun ends with a vowel. The same as to common gender nouns ending with an unstressed -r or -l. Example: en 'djungel - djungeln en 'doktor - doktorn Some neuters ending with an unstressed -er or -el drop their e preceding the r or t. Example: ett 'fönster - fönstret ett 'kapitel - kapitlet (meaning chapter) Some nouns double their last consonant so as to keep their pronunciation. Example: ett rum - rummet I will write the full forms when we come across a noun that differs from the rule. Pronunciation Nouns normally keep their stress in the definite form. Example: *flicka - *flickan ho'tell - ho'tellet 'bok - 'boken Some more nouns ett hus hu:s house en teve *te:ve television mat (c.g.) ma:t food vatten (neu.) 'vaten water ett land land country en stad sta:d city en affär a'fä:r shop en station sta'son station ett huvud *hu:vud head en arm arm arm ett ben be:n leg / bone en bil bi:l car en båt bå:t boat ett tåg tå:g train ett flygplan *fly:gpla:n plane Some prepositions på på: on i i: in från frå:n from av a:v of / by om åm about till til to med me:d with Some more verbs gå (i) gå: to go göra (i) *jö:ra present tense gör to do / to make bo (2) bo: to live ligga (i) *liga to lie, be situated det finns (i) fins (present tense) there is / are svänga (2) *sväga to turn förstå (i) fö'stå: to understand Forming questions In English, you often form a question by rewriting with do. That is NOT possible in Swedish. Instead, you reverse the word order (as in English Are you fine?). Often you use a question word as well. Question words vem vem vilka 'vi(l)ka who (sing.) who (plur.) vad va:d what var va:r where vart vat where (to) hur hu:r how vilken / vilket 'vi(l)ken / 'vi(l)ket what / which varifrån va:ri'frå:n where...from varför 'varfö:r why Examples: Varifrån är du? Where are you from? Vad heter hon? What is her name? Vem är du? Who are you? Vilka är de? Who are they? Var bor du? Where do you live? Vart går du? Where are you going (to)? Varför gör vi så? Why do we do like that? Vilket land bor ni i? What country do you live in? Vilken stad bor ni i? What city do you live in? Köper du bollen? Do you buy the ball? Exercise - Translate the following sentences into Swedish Are you from Sweden? Does he love food?. Where is the house situated? How do I go to the station? Is there a shop here? I am from England. Lesson 3 Vocabulary Jag skulle vilja... *skule *vilja I would like to... höger 'hö:ger right vänster 'vänster left rakt fram fram straight forward norr når north söder 'sö:der south öster 'öster east väster 'väster west flera 'fle:ra lots of många *måga many den här / denna hä:r / *dena this (com.g.) det här / detta hä:r / *deta this (neu.) de här / dessa hä:r / *desa these den där dä:r that (com.g.) det där dä:r that (neu.) de där dä:r those Note that the definite form of the noun is to be used after den här / de där etc. and that the indefinite form is to be used after denna/detta and dessa. Numbers 10-100 elva *elva 11 tolv tålv 12 tretton *trettån 13 fjorton *fjotån 14 femton *femtån 15 sexton *sekstån 16 sjutton *sutån 17 arton *atån 18 nitton *nitån 19 tjugo *ku:go 20 tjugoett ku:'et 21 tjugotvå ku:'två: etc. 22 trettio *treti 30 trettioett treti'et etc. 31 fyrtio *föti 40 femtio *femti 50 sextio *seksti 60 sjuttio *suti 70 åttio *åti 80 nittio *niti 90 hundra 'hundra 100 Nouns 3 - Plural indefinite The plural form of Swedish nouns isn't as easy as that of an English noun, where you just add an s. Swedish nouns are more like German nouns. We attach different suffixes for different nouns. In some cases, you could tell what suffix be added just by looking at the noun, and in some cases you just have to memorize the suffix for each noun. Here are the endings: Common genders - Almost all com.g. ending with an a and some others as well attach -or. en flick|a - flera flickor en gat|a - flera gator (=street) en ros - flera rosor (=rose) The majority of com.g. not ending with an a attach -ar. en pojk|e - flera pojkar en dag - flera dagar (=day) Quite a lot of com.g add -er. en rad - flera rader (=row, not quarrel) en doktor - flera doktorer (=doctor) A few com.g. are irregular and have umlaut (marked with a cross) a gets ä, o gets ö, ä gets å. Some just add an r en bok - flera böcker en stad - flera städer en sko - flera skor (=shoe) en man - flera män Neuters: Those were the common genders, the neuters are much easier. Almost all neuters ending with a vowel add -n. ett äpple - flera äpplen (=apple) Almost all neuters ending with a consonant don't add anything. (Not those ending with -um) ett fönster - flera fönster ett träd - flera träd A few add -r ett fängelse - flera fängelser (=prison) Those ending with -um substitute that for an a. ett fakt|um - flera fakta (=fact) Two common, irregular neuters are: ett ög|a - flera ögon (=eye) ett ör|a - flera öron (=ear) Plural definite Well, that was the plural indefinite, and now we're coming to the plural definite! How do you think that is formed? You're right, by adding a suffix of course! But don't worry. It is not very complicated at all. All nouns attach -na except those having attached no plural indefinite suffix. They get -en. (Very few exceptions to this rule if any. Example: sing. indefinite sing. definite plur. indefinite plur. definite en flicka flickan flickor flickorna en pojke pojken pojkar pojkarna en sak saken saker sakerna ett barn barnet barn barnen ett öga (irregular) ögat ögon ögonen ett äpple äpplet äpplen äpplena ett rum rummet rum rummen Pronunciation The pronunciation could in some cases be more important than you think. For example such a small difference as *anden and 'anden completely changes the meaning of the word. *Anden means the spirit and 'anden means the duck. Quite embarrassing for a priest to say the holy duck instead of the holy spirit, isn't it? The pronunciation of the plural isn't very difficult. All words having to syllables after having added the plural suffix employ the grave accent. (Not the irregular ones with umlaut - they employ the accute accent). *flicka - *flickor 'dag - *dagar 'bok - 'böcker All others, those with more than two syllables keep the stress as it is in the singular. filoso'fi - filoso'fier (=philosophy) The definite suffixes -na and -en don't change the pronunciation. Some more nouns: en restaurang -er restu:'rag restaurant en not|a -or *no:ta bill en dryck -er dryk drink en frukost -er 'frukåst breakfast en lunch -er luns lunch en middag -ar 'mida dinner byxor (plural) *byksor pants en skjort|a -or *sota shirt en tröj|a -or *tröja sweater en hand -er+ hand hand en fot -ter+ fo:t foot ett mynt - mynt coin en biljett -er bil'jet ticket en tunnelban|a -or *tunel'ba:na underground en buss -ar bus bus Adjectives As in German and French, the adjectives inflect depending on the number and gendrer of the noun they describe. There are also, as in German, a weak and strong inflection. The weak inflection is used after Denna / Det här etc. The strong inflection is used after en, ett and after words that don't tell the gender of the noun. Weak inflection: stor (=big) Singular: Plural: com.g: Den här stora bollen De här stora bollarna neuter: Det här stora huset De här stora husen Very easy! You just add an a after the adjective and pronounce it with the grave accent on the syllable preceding the a. Note that you have to use the pronoun den / det / de if you want to put a noun in the definite form which is preceded by an adjective. The big boy = Den stora pojken (Not juststora pojken) The big house = Det stora huset (Not just stora huset) Strong inflection: stor (=big) Singular: Plural: com.g: en stor boll. två stora bollar neuter: ett stort hus två stora hus Not very difficult either. You add a t on neu. sing. and a on all plurals. A few irregular forms do exist however. Adjectives ending with -d or -dd substitute these letters for -tt in the neuter form, unstressed -n is substituted for -t. en röd boll - ett rött hus(röd=red) en liten boll - ett litet hus Adjectives ending with -ad attach an e instead of an a. en intresserad kvinna - den intresserade kvinnan - två intresserade kvinnor (intresserad=interesting) The adjective bra (=good / well) doesn't inflect at all en bra bok - ett bra hus Some adjectives stor sto:r big liten *li:ten small vacker 'vaker beautiful trevlig *tre:vlig nice ful fu:l ugly snäll snäl kind röd rö:d red gul gu:l yellow blå blå: blue grön grö:n green rosa 'råsa (doesn't inflect) pink vit vi:t white svart svat black ren re:n clean smutsig *smutsi(g) dirty Exercise - Translate the following sentences into Swedish He has a big head. I see many yellow shirts. We live in a red house. Why do you have 52 blue hands. The nice girls are very beautiful. I would like to pay for this nice dinner. Lesson 4 Vocabulary detsamma de'sama you too också 'åkså also därför 'därför that's why... vilka 'vi(l)ka what, which (plur.) vems vems whose hit hi:t here (direction, hither) dit di:t there (direction, thither) nästa *nästa next i morgon i*mårån tomorrow igår i'gå:r yesterday efter 'efter after Nouns en klock|a -or *klåka watch, clock en timm|e -ar *time hour en minut -er mi'nu:t minute en sekund -er se'kund second en mamm|a -or *mama mum en papp|a -or *papa dad en mor -mödrar mo:r mother en far -fäder *fa:r father en bro|r -der+ bro:r brother en syst|er -rar *syster sister ett syskon - *syskon sibling ett språk - språ:k language ett bröd - brö:d bread en morfar *morfar grandfather (mother's side) en mormor *mormor grandmother (mother's side) en farfar *farfar grandfather (father's side) en farmor *farmor grandmother (father's side) en somm|ar -rar *såmar summer en höst -ar höst autumn en vint|er -rar 'vinter winter en vår -ar vå:r spring Verbs gilla (1) *jila to like springa (i) *spriga to run ge (i) je: to give beställa (2) be'stäla to order (food etc.) betala (1) be'ta:la to pay veta (i) *ve:ta present tense: vet to know resa (2) *re:sa to travel åka (2) *å:ka to go bli (i) bli: to become, be komma (i) *kåma to come Adjectives lång låg long kort kåt short snabb snab fast långsam *lågsam slow dyr dy:r expensive billig *bilig cheap rolig *ro:lig funny tråkig *trå:kig boring dålig *då:lig bad brun bru:n brown grå grå: grey halv halv half Negations Making a statement negative in Swedish is very simple. You just insert the word inte (=not). Where should you insert it then? Well, it depends on what you want to emphasize in the sentence, but the following rule is quite general, and should work in almost all cases. If the word order is straight (subject + verb), inte is to be inserted after the conjugated verb. Jag äter - Jag äter inte Jag skulle vilja äta här - Jag skulle inte vilja äta här If the word order is reversed, (verb + subject) in qustions for example, inte is to be inserted after the subject. You could insert it before the the subject as well, if you want to emphasize that inte refers to that particular subject. Gör du det? - Gör du inte det? - Gör inte du det? (Emphasizing that you aren't doing it) Skulle du vilja äta här? - Skulle du inte vilja äta här? - Skulle inte du vilja äta här? Genetive - Possessive Pronouns The Genitive is formed very easily in Swedish. You just add -s to the noun. Note that there shall be no genitive apostrophy as in English. If the noun already ends with -s or -z, no additional -s is added in the genitive. Eriks bok - Eric's book Anders bok - Anders' book Bilens färg - The color of the car Pojkarnas vänner - The friends of the boys The possessive pronouns have, as in French and German, different forms depending on the the number and gender of the noun. sing. com.g. sing. neu. plural Jag Min min Mitt mit Mina *mi:na Du Din din Ditt dit Dina *di:na Han Hans hans Sin sin Hans hans Sitt sit Hans hans Sina *si:na Hon Hennes *henes Sin sin Hennes *henes Sitt sit Hennes *henes Sina *si:na Den Dess des Sin sin Dess des Sitt sit Dess des Sina *si:na Det Dess des Sin sin Dess des Sitt sit Dess des Sina *si:na Vi Vår vå:r Vårt vå:t Våra *vå:ra Ni Er e:r Ert e:t Era *e:ra De Deras *de:ras Sin sin Deras *de:ras Sitt sit Deras *de:ras Sina *si:na The forms sin, sitt and sina are when the noun is referring directly back to the subject of the same sentence. They can never be used as subjects themselves. Carl och hans pappa bor i Sverige. - Carl and his dad live in Swden Carl bor i Sverige med sin Pappa. - Carl lives in Sweden with his dad. Lisa, Anne och deras pappor bor i Sverige. - Lisa, Anne and their dads live in Swden Lisa och Anne bor i Sverige med sina pappor. - Lisa and Anne live in Sweden with their dads. Note that there are no such forms corresponding to the English mine or yours. In Swedish, we don't distinguish between whether the possessive pronoun is followed by a noun or not. Det här är min bok - Boken är min = This is my book- The book is mine Är det där vårt hus? - Ja, det är vårt = Is that our house? - Yes, it is ours. Det här är dina saker - Dessa saker är dina = These are your things - These things are yours Objective Pronouns In the sentence The men love the cars, you can't tell whether it is the men or the cars who love by just studying the forms of the nouns. Though, this word order automatically makes clear that it is the men who love and the cars who are loved. Thus, "the men" are the subject and "the cars" are the direct object. Some languages, German for example, have different forms for the direct objects. (Der Mann sieht den Ball - Der Ball sieht den Mann) The only place where English uses an objective form is the pronouns. If I said Her I love, there would be no doubt what was meant, though you normally would say I love her. The Swedish objective pronouns are: Subject Object Jag Mig mej Du Dig dej Han Honom *hånåm Hon Henne *hene Den Den Det Det Vi Oss ås Ni Er e:r De Dem dem is almost always pronounced dåm Telling the time If you want to know what time it is, you ask: Vad är klockan? = What time is it? Or as a whole phrase: Ursäkta mig, vet du vad klockan är? = Excuse me, do you know what time it is? Then, if you're lucky you'll get a response like this: Den (klockan) är tolv. Den är fem över ett. Den är kvart över två. Den är fem i halv fyra. Den är halv fem. Den är fem över halv sex. Den är tjugo i sju. Den är kvart i åtta. Note that in Swedish, it is "half to", and not as in English "half past". Exercises Vad är klockan? 1 - 9:30 2 - 1:40 3 - 10:35 4 - 5:15 5 - 12:25 6 - 3:20 Translate the following sentences into Swedish 1 - Don't you love me? 2 - Don't you love me either? (either = heller) 3 - Do you have our boring books in your big house? 4 - Is he coming to us next summer? 5 - I would like to reserve that nice table for the two of us. 6 - I wouldn't like to give him my money. Lesson 5 Vocabulary mer(a) 'me:r(a) more mest mest most än än than lika...som li:ka såm as...as för...sedan fö:r sen ago om åm in (time) i i: for (time) under 'under during innan *inan before ett år - å:r year en väg -ar vä:g way/road Adjectives - Compare The comparative forms of a Swedish adjective is formed in almost the same ways as is an English adjective. In English, you can either add -er and -est (high, higher, highest), or you can say more and most (boring, more boring, most boring). In Swedish, you add -are and -ast where possible, and otherwise, you say mer and mest. The adjective kort is thus compared like this: kort- kortare - kortast The adjective intressant = interesting is like in English compared with more and most: intressant - mer intressant - mest intressant Adjectives ending with unstressed -en, -er or -el drop their e (like with the definite article). vacker - vackrare - vackrast trogen - trognare - trognast (=faithful) Some adjectives are irregular and some have umlaut: liten - mindre - minst dålig - sämre - sämst bra - bättre - bäst stor - större - störst lång - längre - längst hög - högre - högst mycket - mer(a) - mest If you want to say the best car, you have to inflect the adjective, and here it's the weak pattern that is to be used. Regular adjectives attach -e, irregular ones attach -a. Adjectives in the second form never inflect. den korta bilen den kortare bilen den kortaste bilen den vackra bilen den vackrare bilen den vackraste bilen den dåliga bilen den sämre bilen den sämsta bilen The adjective liten has the first form lilla when it is inflected weakly. ett litet barn det lilla barnet The expression as...as is lika...som in Swedish Mitt hus är lika stort som ditt. - My house is as big as yours. Verbs - The Imperfect and the Perfect tense Swedish is very similair to English in constructing the past tenses. And the tenses are also employed pretty much the same way in both languages. The perfect tense consists of the present tense of the verb ha (to have) + the supine form of the main verb. As in English, you get the past perfect by using the imperfect form of ha instead of the present tense. The imperfect is formed by attaching a suffix to the stem. Group 1+2: The imperfect tense is formed by adding -de to the stem, unless the stem ends with a voiceless consonant (f, k, p, s, t etc.) then you attach -te. The supine is formed by attaching -t to the stem. Ireggular verbs: As this group consists of irregular verbs, you can't give any rule what forms there are. But in the imperfect, most verbs get no suffix. They just change the stem-vowel. In the supine, most verbs change the stem-vowel again, and attach -it or -at. Example: Verb: Stem: Imperfect: Supine: Perfect: Past perfect: tala (1) tala- talade talat har talat hade talat ringa (2) ring- ringde ringt har ringt hade ringt köpa (2) köp- köpte köpt har köpt hade köpt vara (i) var- var varit har varit hade varit springa (i) (=to run) spring- sprang sprungit har sprungit hade sprungit komma (i) komm- kom kommit har kommit hade kommit ha (i) ha- hade haft har haft hade haft göra (i) gör- gjorde gjort har gjort hade gjort bli (i) bli- blev blivit har blivit hade blivit äta (i) ät- åt ätit har ätit hade ätit se (i) se- såg sett har sett hade sett You can take a look at my List of irregular Swedish verbs. Exercise - Translate the following sentences into Swedish 1 - I was in Sweden ten years ago. 2 - For how many years have you been here? 3 - What did you do before you came here? 4 - I had bought the ten biggest cars before they saw me. 5 - He ran the shortest way to the better of the two restaurants. Lesson 6 Vocabulary - Numbers 101 - ... (ett) hundraett hundra'et 101 (ett) hundratvå hundra'två: etc. 102 två hundra 200 två hundraett etc. 201 tre hundra etc. 300 (ett) tusen 'tu:sen 1.000 två tusen etc. 2.000 en miljon mil'jo:n 1.000.000 en miljard mil'ja:d 1.000.000.000 en biljon bil'jo:n 1.000.000.000.000 en biljard bil'ja:d 1.000.000.000.000.000 en triljon tril'jo:n 1.000.000.000.000.000.000 en triljard tril'jad 1.000.000.000.000.000.000.000 Note: When counting we always say ett, tjogoett, hundraett etc. But if the number is followed by a noun we use the en-form. en bil - ett fönster = one car - one window tjogoen bilar - tjugoen fönster = 21 cars - 21 window År nittonhundraett = In 1901 brinna (i) *brina to burn en eld -ar eld fire ta (i) ta: to take kosta (1) *kåsta to cost ett brev - bre:v letter någon(t), några *nå:gån some en gång -er gåg time (four times e.g.) tänka (2) *tänka think viktig *viktig important person pe'so:n person läsa (2) *lä:sa to read The present participle The present participle in English is formed by attaching -ing to the verb (a walking man). In Swedish it's almost as simple as that. You attach -nde to the infinitive of polysyllabic verbs, and -ende to the infinitive of monosyllabic verbs. a burning fire - en brinnande eld a walking man - en gående man A few monosyllabic get a slightly irregular ending. This is because the original verb was longer. bli - blivande (The original verb was bliva and could be used today as well) ha - havande (The original verb was hava) ta - tagande (The original verb was taga) Note that the Swedish present participle can't be used as in English I am helping you or He is eating. We use the present tense instead. I am helping you - Jag hjälper dig. He is eating food - Han äter mat. The past participle The past participle is used in phrases like I am seen, an interested woman etc. As you can see, in English form used to construct the past participle is the same as the form used in the perfect tense. That is not the case in Swedish. Here we used the supine to construct the perfect tense, and that is also the only time when the supine is used - for the perfect and the past perfect. The past participle, however, is formed like this, note that it has to be inflected as an adjective: Group 1 verbs add -d to the stem Älska - Älskad - Jag är älskad - Barnet är älskat. - Vi är älskade. Group 2 verbs whose stem ends with a voiced consonant add -d too, the others add -t. Ring|a - Ringd Köp|a - Köpt - Sakerna är köpta. Irregular polysyllabic verbs often attach -en to their supine stem. But for many verbs, you just have to memorize the form Verb Supine Past participle Skriva - Skrivit - Skriven - Brevet är skrivet Komma - Kommit - Kommen Se - Sett - Sedd - Vi är sedda The passive form The passive form is used in sentences like The child is seen by the dad. The contrary is the active form, which would be The dad sees the cild. In Swedish, you can make the passive form in to ways - either by using the verb bli + past participle (inflected as an adjective): The letter is being written by me - Brevet blir skrivet av mig The letter was written by me - Brevet blev skrivet av mig. The letter has been written by me - Brevet har blivit skrivet av mig. An easier and more frequently used way of expressing the passive form is by attaching an s to the end of the main verb: The letter is being written by me - Brevet skrivs av mig. The letter was written by me - Brevet skrevs av mig. The letter has been written by me - Brevet har skrivits av mig. Expressing the future Swedish has got two ways of expressing the future. The first one is komma att + infinitive, which is like the English will. The second one is ska + infinitive, which is like the English to be going to + infinitive. Jag kommer att hjälpa dig någon gång - I will help you some time. Vad ska vi göra idag? - What are we going to do today? There is a third way of expressing the future which is formed by tänka + inf. or by ämna + inf. These forms are used like the English intend to. Jag tänker/ämnar hjälpa dig - I intend to help you Exercise - Translate the following sentences into Swedish 1 - To be loved is very important. 2 - Whose book is read the most? 3 - This book will be written next summer. 4 - What are you going to do next spring? How do you say these years in Swedish? 1 - 1765 2 - 1997 3 - 1588 4 - 1173 5 - 1021 Lesson 7 Vocabulary kunna (i) *kuna inf. of can - to be able to vilja (i) *vilja inf. of want to få (i) få: to be allowed to / get skola (i) *sko:la inf. of shall, will måste *måste (present tense) have to / must mörk mörk dark ljus ju:s light, bright extrem eks'tre:m extreme titta på (1) to look at säga (i) säja to say alltid *alti:d always aldrig *aldrig never ingen(t,a) *igen no noggran *no:gran careful måndag 'månda Monday tisdag 'ti:sda Tuesday onsdag 'onsda Wednesday torsdag 'tosda Thursday fredag 'fre:da Friday lördag 'löda Saturday söndag 'sönda Sunday Modal Auxiliary Verbs Modal verbs are verbs who tell in what way a certain action is carried out. Some examples of modal verbs are shall, must, want to. In Swedish, the modal verbs conjugate very irregularly: Infinitive Present tense Imperfect Supine kunna kan kunde kunnat vilja vill ville velat skola ska(ll) skulle skolat få får fick fått Adverbs An adverb is a word that tells in what way an action is performed. It can hence be an indicator to a verb, an adjective or another adverb. In English, adverbs have the suffix -ly. In Swedish, the suffix is -t. She walks slowly - Hon går långsamt She walks extremely slowly - Hon går extremt långsamt She is extremely beautiful - Hon är extremt vacker Word order, advanced phrases Some conjunctions: att at that som såm who(m), that, which eftersom efter'såm därför att 'därför since fastän 'fastän although för att in order to så att so that innan *inan before om åm if då då: as medan *me:dan while The Swedish word order differs in some way from that of the English language. In English, the word order is straight, except for phrases like "I want to leave", said John. In Swedish, the word order is straight too, as long as the subject + verb aren't preceded by anything in the sentence. But as soon as an expression precedes the subject + verb, the word order gets reversed. It could be any word, an indication of time or place or anything. Jag kom igår - Igår kom jag Jag bor där - Där bor jag Man talar svenska i Sverige - I Sverige talar man svenska Subordinate clauses In normal clauses the modifier is placed after its verb. I never come - Jag kommer aldrig I don't come - Jag kommer inte But in a subordinate clause, the modifier is placed before its verb. He says, that I never come - Han säger, att jag aldrig kommer He says, that I don't come - Han säger, att jag inte kommer The conjunction som is used as English that, who, which The ball that I look at - Bollen som jag tittar på The person who helped me - Personen som hjälpte mig The person by whom I was helped - Personen som jag hjälptes av That's the house at which we were looking - Det är huset som vi tittade på Reflexive verbs / pronouns Reflexive verbs are verbs like to wash oneself. They require a reflexive pronoun. In Swedish they are: Jag mig Du dig Han/Hon Den/Det sig Vi oss Ni er De sig In Swedish, to wash oneself is tvätta sig. Thus, I wash myself would be - Jag tvättar mig etc. The Imperative The imperative is used to give orders, like be quiet, come here. It is very easily formed in Swedish. You just take the stem of the verb. The only irregular form is vara whose imperative form is var. Come here - Kom hit Help me - Hjälp mig Be happy - Var glad Exercise - Translate the following sentences into Swedish 1 - Yesterday, he washed his big hands, since they were dirty. 2 - Yesterday, he washed himself carefully. 3 - In two days, she will see her brothers and sisters. 4 - If she intend to come, I will help her. 5 - Go there, in order to help your mother. 6 - Buy the big house, although you don't like it.